Battle of Tar Valon
The Battle of Tar Valon was a major engagement fought in the spring of 1000 NE between the White Tower Aes Sedai and the Seanchan. The battle proved to be the catalyst for the healing of the Aes Sedai following their year-long civil conflict. Background In the summer of 999 NE, the Aes Sedai became divided over the illegal deposing of Siuan Sanche as the Amyrlin Seat and the raising of Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan to replace her. The sisterhood split into thirds, with one group remaining in the White Tower, another forming a breakaway Aes Sedai in Salidar and the other third remaining neutral or undeclared. The rebels raised a novice, Egwene al'Vere, to serve as a figurehead Amyrlin, but Egwene proved a superior schemer and seized control of the rebels in truth as well as name. She eventually raised an army of 50,000 troops under Captain-General Gareth Bryne and had them Travel to Tar Valon and lay siege to the city. As part of the attempt to force the city to surrender, Egwene sealed Northharbor and Southharbor with chains of cuendillar, but she was captured during this exercise. She was declared a novice once more, but she refused to accept this and was frequently punished for showing disrespect to Aes Sedai and the Amyrlin Seat. In one of her prophetic dreams, Egwene foresaw that the Seanchan would attack the White Tower, but her warnings were ignored at Elaida's order. At the same time as these events, the Seanchan had returned in force, launched a substantial invasion of the south-west of the continent and had overran Tarabon, Amadicia, Altara and parts of Almoth Plain. With their goal of conquering the entire continent, it was inevitable that their path would eventually lead them to Tar Valon, but events convinced them to move up the timetable for their attack. Plans During the conquest of Ebou Dar, a number Seanchan damane detected vast amounts of the One Power being channelled from a hilltop north of the city. Unknown to the Seanchan, this was a circle of Aes Sedai, Kin and Sea Folk Windfinders using the Bowl of Winds to restore normal weather to the world. The channellers fled using gateways, but fearing the Seanchan would be able to work out how to create their own, Elayne Trakand tried to unravel the gateway, instead causing it to explode, vapourising all of the Seanchan on the other side. The use of the Bowl of Winds had also severely affected the One Power in that location, making using it there difficult. The Seanchan concluded that the Aes Sedai had developed and deployed an incredibly powerful weapon capable of destroying vast numbers of their forces. Although the 'weapon' was not used again in the following months as their grip on the south-west of the continent hardened, its apparent existence remained a cause for concern. Suroth decided to develop contingency plans for a surprise assault on Tar Valon to capture or destroy this weapon and simultaneously leash or kill as many Aes Sedai as possible. After her fall from grace, the Daughter of the Nine Moons, Tuon Athaem Kore Paendrag, was made aware of the plan as well, and approved it in concept. The decision to implement the operation was taken after the failure of negotiations between Tuon and Rand al'Thor. Tuon hoped that depriving his forces of this imaginary weapon and hopefully hundreds of potential Aes Sedai followers or allies would convince him to bow before the Crystal Throne, as was prophecised, although she later acknowledged it would be more likely to just harden their differences. Still, depriving al'Thor of valuable resources was considered a worthwhile goal. Positioning forces Approximately 100 to'raken and an unknown number of escort raken flew in stages from Ebou Dar to Tar Valon, across Altara, Murandy, Andor and Caralain Grass. They carried approximately 300 troops with them, comprising 200 Fists of Heaven, fifty sul'dam/''damane'' pairings and nine Bloodknives, elite kamikaze assassins. Travel time was several days. By resting in remote grasslands fair from habitation, they avoided being seen along the way, or if they were seen there was no time to warn anyone. At the time of the battle, there were approximately 300 Aes Sedai and several dozen Accepted and novices in the White Tower. The city held approximately 30,000 armed men, but most of these were on station near the bridges, ready to repel any sortie from the besieging rebel army. As such, the Tower itself was comparatively lightly-defended. The battle The Seanchan launched their attack at night. Damane operating from to'raken-back blasted several holes in the side of the White Tower, permitting Fists of Heaven and damane to enter the tower above ground level. Simultaneously, several to'raken landed on the Tower roof and in the square in front of the main entrance. This three-pronged attack caught the Tower Aes Sedai completely off-guard and several sisters were killed or captured in the opening minutes of the attack. Inaccurate reports of Shadowspawn led to panic and hysteries in several areas until the sisters regained their composure and began a counter-attack. Unfortunately, the divisions fostered between the Ajahs by Elaida's acts worked against them, with many of the Ajahs working alone and not in concert with others. It wasn't until Saerin Asnobar assumed command of the ground floor defence that some order was brought to the battle on that front. The ground floor assault was also disrupted by the arrival of several of the rebel troops led by Siuan Sanche, Gareth Bryne and Gawyn Trakand, who scattered some of the Seanchan forces there and killed one of the Bloodknives. However, the main defence was carried out by the captive Egwene al'Vere on the twenty-second floor of the Tower, where a major breach had been made. Although dosed with forkroot and unable to channel more than a trickle, she organised the novices into a coherent defensive force and taught them how to link and form circles that the Seanchan could not break, rendering them immune to shielding and capture. She also showed them how to Travel and used this ability to raid the White Tower's store rooms for sa'angreal. Once so armed and having cleared several damane from within the Tower, Egwene began shooting down numerous to'raken. Once a third of the Seanchan raiding force had been destroyed, it was forced to withdraw. During the confusion of the battle, Siuan's raiding party gained entrance to the Tower and was able to rescue Egwene and return her to the rebel camp. Casualties Seanchan Over 30 to'raken were killed in the attack, along with their riders and any passengers. Ten damane were taken prisoner and their sul'dam killed. At least Bloodknife was also killed. The fate of the others remains unknown. Other Seanchan losses are unknown, but the Fists of Heaven suffered heavy casualties within the Tower and in the battle before the main entrance. Aes Sedai Twenty Aes Sedai sisters and three novices were killed within the Tower. Almost forty initiates, including over two dozen full sisters, were captured by the Seanchan, including the Amyrlin Seat in the White Tower herself. Aftermath The capture of Elaida meant a shift in the White Tower's policy, allowing them to recognise and accept Egwene al'Vere as their Amyrlin Seat. This led to the conclusion of the Aes Sedai civil conflict and the reunification of the Tower. Also, thanks to intelligence received from Verin Mathwin just prior to the battle, Egwene was able to expose almost the entirety of the Black Ajah within both camps, and well over half of them were captured and executed before the rest fled. Whilst the Seanchan attack was a devastating blow against the invulnerable image of the White Tower, it nevertheless unified the Tower after a long period of division. Category:Battles